Rein-pull recorder



Feb. 15, 1944. F. nu PoNT AMMEN 2,341,534

' REIN-PULL.l RECORDER Filed/March 8, 1941 INVENTo/z.- .ANc/,s.Da/'vrA/MEM,

. o-u/ l A TORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REIN-PULL RECORDERFrancis Du Pont Ammon, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 8, 1941, Serial No. 382,351

Claims.

This invention. relates to a device to be employed in connection withvhorse racing.

It is a well known fact that sometimes a jockey during a race, will holdhis horse in the stretch, to prevent his horse from winning. In fact,this isa common practice and is done sometimes with the knowledge, andunder the instructions of the owner or trainer of the horse. Thispractice is, of course dishonest if betting is taking place, and is asource of losses and annoyance to the spectators who may be betting onthe horse. If the judges see evidence of such holding, the jockey may beruled off the track, or reprimanded. When the animals are charging inthe stretch, many of the jockeys and their horses are concealed by theother horses. Hence it is extremely diflicultl to detect this practiceof holding a horse in the finishing stretch.

Holding back a horse in the early portion of a race is perfectlypermissible, and many a horse should be ridden in that way in order tosave his energy for the sprint at the nish.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and reliable devicefor indicating whether a horse has been pulled wrongfully in a race; inotherV words, it charts a record of the pull on the rein. of a racinghorse from the start to the finish, the general purpose being to showfor the beneiit of the judges after the race, and for the benefit of thebetting public, whether each horse in the race has been honestly riddento win,

This device is also useful, to enable the manner in which a horse isridden by the jockey in practice runs, tobe graphicallyy indicated tothe owner or trainer, the record card .produced on the device operating,for example,vto indicate at what point on the track the horse was heldback, with the hope of attaining by different trials, the shortest timefor a certain length of race for which the horse is being trained.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a devicethat iscapable of being associated with the bit of the bridle and connected tothe rein, and so constructed that the galloping of the horse willautomatically drive a record card, while a recording member such as apencil. traces a line on the card that indicates at all times, thetension inthe reins, and operating so that when the horse is notgalloping, the record card is not driven.

In its preferred embodiment, the invention employs an oscillator orpendulum mounted to swing in the plane in which the horse is runningahead'. This oscillator arm is nearly in balance,y

and mounted so that at each spring of the horse the arm will move, andits motion will be imparted to a platen carrying the card.

In racing, the motion of the horses head is intermittently forward atvarying speed, and also up and down. A further object of the inventionis to provide means for regulating the level of the path of swing of theoscillator arm with respect to the axis on which it rocks, therebyenabling more or less of the intermittent forward motion or up-and-downmotion of the bit to be utilized in controlling the inertia forces thatenergize the oscillator.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an eflicientrein-pull recorder.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the head of a racing horse, andillustrating a bridle provided with a. recording device embodying thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of this recording device upon a larger scale,and indicating adjacent portions of the bridle broken away.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken in the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.Certain parts are broken away.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken about on the line 4-4 ofFig. 3 upon a still larger scale, and particularly illustrating detailsof means that is preferably employed for enabling the level of the pathor field of oscillation of the oscillator arm to be regulated withrespect to its axis of oscillation.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View illustrating a record card, and showing agraph such as would be traced on the card if the racing horse was notpulled at any time during the race, but only to stop the horse after thefinish.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the graph of a race inwhich the horse was held back slightly, in the iirst portion of therace, and badly Dulled in the stretch.

In practicing the invention, a recording device is provided thatindicates the amount of pull on the rein on a moving recording member orcard, the said recording member being moved proportionallly with theprogress of the race.

Any suitable driving means may be provided for the platen that carriesthe recording element,

such as a small paper or card, but this is preferably accomplished bymeans of an inertia-controlled oscillator member, so constructed that itwill osclllate only when the animal is galloping. The advantage of thisis that the cards can be put on their platens before the horses paradebefore the grandstand.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the end of thebit B is provided with a guide head I for carrying a tension deviceincluding a shoe or slide 2, the rear end of which is connected to therein 3, and the pull in the rein is resisted by a coil spring 4 on theprojecting forward end of the slide, that thrusts between the head 5 andthe forward end of the guide head.

The head I carries recording means, preferably including a rotary platen6 of disc-form, mounted to rotate on a horizontal pin or stud 1projecting out from the side of the guide head 2.

Preferably located between the platen and the guide I is an oscillatorelement in the form of an arm 8. This arm is a floating part, that is tosay, it is mounted to swing in the front-and-rear plane in which theanimal is advancing, so that the inertia of the arm will cause it tooscillate to and fro while the animal is racing. The motion of theoscillator is imparted to the platen to drive it in a forward directionaround its axis of rotation on the pin 1. For this purpose I may providethe arm 8 with a spring-pressed driving pawl 9, engaging teeth II)formed continuously along the periphery of the platen. A spring-presseddetent pawl I I, or other suitable means may be provided for holding theplaten against backward rotation.

The device is provided with means for regulating the position of the arm8 so as to adapt it to the l' peculiarities of motion of the horse inrunning, that is to say, locate the arm in an optimum angle forutilizing the inertia forces develo'ped in the arm as the horse leapsforward and lands in his stride.

For this purpose I provide an adjustable bracket I 2 of arcuate formadjustably seated in an arcuate socket I3 in the outer face of theguidehead I. The adjustment is effected by providing a curved slot I4with a stud in the slot provided with a clamping nut I5.

An adjustable return spring I6 seating against the lower end of thebracket, returns the arm after it has swung forward or down, forcing thearm up or back against an adjustable stop-screw- I1 carried by the upperend of the bracket I2. An adjusting screw I8 carried in a toe of the arm8, adjusts the coil spring I6 which is a compression spring. Thisadjusts the angle of the arm 8 with respect to a horizontal line throughthe pin 1. In other words, the location of the path of swing of theoscillator, can be adjusted so that the oscil-I lator will swing more orless up and down, or more or less forward and back in the front and rearplane. This is advantageous because it enables the arm 8 to be held in alocation at which the maximum amount of energy can be attained from theinertia forces developed by the motion of the horses head, in galloping.The arm 8 and bracket I2 constitute an assembly adjustable as anassembly around the axis of the pin 1.

A recording stylus or pencil I9 is provided preferably mounted on theend of a bow spring 2U carried by the slide. The spring 28 presses thepoint of the hard pencil against a record element or card 2| secured tothe face of the platen. The card is provided with spaced circular scalelines 22 (see Figs. 5 and 6) numbered progressively as a scale forindicating force, from the center radially outward. The card is alsoformed with a central opening 23 to fit over a follower-screw 24 thatholds the platen on the pin or stud 1. One or more spring clips 25 areprovided on the platen, with small spurs 26 on their inner sides toclamp and impale the card, and thereby insure its rotation with theplaten.

If the race is run without holding the horse at any point on the course,the pencil will rule a linehavingthe characteigistics of"n the line 21in Fig. 5, which is nearlycir'culanin form. This line originates at thepoint 28 where the race starts. The portion 3| of the line indicates thet pulling of the horse to stop him after he has I crossed the wire on amile track, for example.

Fig. 6 illustrates the character of graph or line 30 traced in riding ahorse that was held somewhat at the point BI, and held again badly atthe point 32 in the stretch just before the finish. The guide-head isprovided with a supporting extension 33 attached to 'the side straps 34of the bridle. This partxmay carry the detent pawllLr r Whereverpossible, the parts of this device should be composed of aluminumor-some light alloys. But the yoscillator arm, if necessary, may be madeof a metal having greater specic gravity and, if desired; may beweighted on its outer end so that its center of gravity is well out fromits axis of swing. v

The springIG, the oscillator arm 8, and the stop I1, should be designedvand adjusted so that the oscillator will-swing .about in time with therhythm or frequency ofthe horses leaps when in his racing gallop.

For the. sake of lightness, the slide 2 may be made of hollow form. Itis provided ywith-a Cotter pin 2a operating as a stop.

If desired, a leather guard 35 may be provided between the guide head Iand the side of the horses mou-th. j

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.- r

What I claim is: v 1. In an indicator for recording the pull on a reinof a racingjanimal, the combination of a slide connected tothe rein, aspring distorted by movementA of the slide, means for'guiding the slide,a recording pencil connected to the slide to move therewith, a movableplaten to carry a card to cooperate with the pencil, aninertia-controlled oscillator actuated by each leap of the animal',`andn means associated therewith for driving the platen proportionally tothe distance traversed by the animal in the race. to enable thepencilfto recorda continuous line on the card. j

In an indicator for recording-the pull on rein of a racing animal, thecombination of a slide connected to the rein, a springldistorted bymovement of the slide, meansv for guiding the slide, a recording pencilconnected to the slide to move therewith, a rotary platen to carry acard to cooperate with the pencil, an inertiacontrolled oscillator armmounted to rock about the axis of the platen and actuated by the leapsof the racing animal, and means associated with the oscillator arm andthe platen for imparting movement to the platen from the oscillator arm.

3. In an indicator for recording the pull of a rein of a racing animal,the combination of a slide connected with the rein, means for guidingthe same, a recordingpencil connected with the slide, a spring forresisting the pull on the rein, a rotary disc-form platen for carrying arecording card to cooperate with the pencil, an inertiacontrolledoscillator arm mounted to rock on the axis of rotation of the platen,actuated by the leaps of the racing animal, said platen having teeth andsaid oscillator arm having a driving pawl for engaging the teeth torotate the platen as the animal races forward.

4. In an indicator for recording the pull of a rein of a racing animal,the combination of a slide connected with the rein, means for guidingthe same, a recording pencil connected with the slide, a spring forresisting the pull on the rein, a rotary disc-form platen for carrying arecording card to cooperate with the pencil, an inertiacontrolledoscillator arm mounted to rock on the axis of rotation of the platen,actuated by the leaps of the racing animal, said platen having teeth andsaid oscillator arm having a driving pawl for engaging the teeth torotate the platen as the animal races forward, and a detent pawl forpreventing rotation of the platen in a backward direction.

5. In an indicator for recording the pull or the rein of a racinganimal, the combination of a slide connected to the rein, a spring forresisting the movement of the slide, a rotary platen for carrying acard, an inertia-actuated oscillator arm mounted to swing substantiallyin the front and rear plane in which the animal is advancing, andoscillated by the leaps of the racing animal, means for regulating thelevel of the path of swing of the arm with respect to the axis on whichit swings, means for imparting the movements of the arm to the platen,and means controlled by the slide for tracing :a record line on thecard.

6. In an indicator for recording the pull on the rein of a racinganimal, the combination of recording means connected to the rein,including a pencil and a platen for carrying a recording card; aninertia-controlled driving device for driving the platen and therecording card proportionally to the advance of the racing animal, saiddriving device including an oscillator arm mounted to rock in afront-and-rear plane on an axis, oscillated by the leaps of the racinganimal and means for regulating the angle of the arm with respect to ahorizontal line passing through the said axis.

'7. In an indicator for recording the pull on the rein of a racinganimal, the combination of a slide connected to the rein, a spring forresisting the movement of the slide, a rotary platen for carrying acard, an inertia-actuated oscillator arm mounted to swing substantiallyin the front-and-rear plane in which the animal is advancing, arelatively xed means mounted for adjustment substantially about the saidaxis, means for imparting the movements of the oscillator arm to theplaten, a spring between the oscillator arm and the relatively fixedmeans, and means controlled by the slide for tracing a recording line onthe card.

8. In an indicator for recording the pull on a rein of a racing animal,the combination of a slide connected to the rein, a spring distorted bymovement of the slide, means for guiding the slide, a recording pencilconnected to the slide to move therewith, a movable platen to carry acard to cooperate with the pencil, and a floating part independent ofthe pull on the rein actuated through the agency of the motion of theracing animal for driving the platen proportionally with the distancetraversed by the animal during the race, to trace a record line on thecard.

9. In an indicator for recording the pull on the rein of a racinganimal, the combination of recording means connected to the rein,includ-- ing a marking element and an element for carrying a recordingcard; and an inertia-controlled driving device actuated by the leaps ofthe racing animal for driving one of said elements proportionally to theadvance of the racing animal.

10. In a device for continuously recording the relative rein pulls inthe bridle of a racing animal as it progresses along a race course, thecombination of a member for supporting a moving recording element and amarking means thereon, mechanical means associated with the recordingelement capable of exerting a force independent of that of the pull inthe rein, to effect continuous progressive movement of the lrecordingelement proportional to the advance of the animal along the race course,and means for moving the marking means across the recording elementproportionally to the pulling forces in the rein, thereby continuouslyproducing a force-recording line on the recording element as the animalruns along the course.

FRANCIS DU PONT AMMEN.

